Weekend update

Good weekend this weekend.  I was really irritable on Saturday for no apparent reason.  Okay, the reason was really petty and I feel bad about it.  I got woken up.  Yep, that’s it.  We didn’t get to bed until after midnight on Friday, which is not unusual.  But Saturday is my ONLY day to get any uninterrupted sleep if Gman doesn’t wake up early or come and get in bed with us in the middle of the night.  Neither of which he did Friday night.  Yay!!!!  BUT ……. [can you hear the ominous music?] …. Tom had to go to a funeral Saturday morning and one of his friends called at 7 AM to see if he needed a ride.  The funeral was for a young policeman killed in the line of duty and it was going to be very crowded so the friend called to see if Tom needed a ride.  Which he did not, but it was certainly nice of the friend to call.  HOWEVER ….. I was not happy to be woken up after less than 7 hours of sleep.  Most days I get 5 hours, 6 if I’m lucky or sleep through the alarm clock and don’t shower before work.  I was really hoping for a solid 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  No dice.  Because once the phone rang I had to get up and go to the bathroom.  And then Gman woke up.  And then Dad had to get up and get ready while Gman talked his ear off.  And then I had to get up and distract Gman so that Dad could get ready.  All of which put me in a really irritable mood.  Which I then took out on my innocent son.  Nothing horrendous, just a general snippiness and lack of patience instead of good humor about little set backs.  It really upset Tom though.  Not that his friend called, but that I was SO, SO, SO out of patience.  I’m not usually like that.  I get irritable occasionally, but not for a whole day of foul moodiness.

 

But even though I was irritable we still managed to eat breakfast, get changed into swim clothes, I got a shower and we left for swim lessons.  WITHOUT UNDERWEAR.  That’s right.  My poor son wore his swim suit to swimming and I didn’t bring any underwear for him to wear once lessons were over.  Luckily for me, after a fruitless stop at Walgreens – they don’t carry children’s underwear for those who are interested – I remembered a TJ Maxx in the neighborhood.  So one 3-pack of 4T underwear later we went to my mom’s house and ate lunch.  After lunch we headed to the pumpkin patch – not the big fancy one that I initially intended, the little church run one right around the corner – and had a great time.  Gman got to jump on the “castle/rocket ship” enclosed trampoline thing with some big kids, we picked out 3 big pumpkins – one for Dad, one for Mom, and one for Gman and 3 baby gourds that looked like pumpkins and only cost $0.50 each.  Then Gman got to pull them to the car in a red wagon and got to be pulled back to the jumpy thing by me.  He loved it.  He also got to use the church bathroom, which he loved.  He loves going to different bathrooms, especially ones that have locking doors so that he can lock himself in.  It makes him feel very big.

 

After the pumpkin patch we headed home to Daddy who was back from the funeral.  While Dad worked on Gman’s play house, Gman and Mom took a nap.  It was necessary.  It doesn’t count toward uninterrupted sleep, but it did put me in a better mood.  Grandma was leaving Sunday for Nashville to take care of Uncle Bill while he recovers from surgery so we had her over to our house for salads [YUMMY!] and a quick good bye.  She left early the next morning and will be gone for quite some time.  Prayers for a speedy recovery for Uncle Bill and safe journey for Grandma.  Then bath for the boy and bed.

 

Sunday after Mass I tried to cut off my finger.  I was making an omelet and cutting up greasy bacon to put into it and the knife slipped or my finger slipped and I cut myself pretty badly.  Didn’t require stitches, but I did almost pass out.  Just got a little light-headed.  Dad had to get me a band-aid, finish the omelet [which turned out pretty good], and put up with my whining.  Gman was really sweet and worried.  He gave me his last Spiderman band-aid and kissed my finger to make it better.  After brunch Gman and I took another nap [less than 6 hours for me, but even more importantly, less than 9 hours for him and he’s still a growing boy] while Dad read the paper and watched football.  Gman got up and watched a bit of football after he woke up and then he and Dad worked on his playhouse until he grew bored with that and decided to use his little dull axe to strip the bark off a log.  That lasted until it was time to come in and get ready.  Dad and Mom went out to eat using a gift certificate Grandma gave them and even better, Gman got to go spend the evening with his sisters at his oldest sister’s apartment.  He had 2 sisters, 2 sister’s roommates, and one little dog to play with, movies to watch, and toys to show off.  He even got to eat a hot dog and M&M’s for dinner.  He was in heaven.  And then Mom and Dad came and got him and he got to go home and tell them all about his night and how much fun he had and what he did and then a nice hot bath, prayers, a book and bed.  We all had a good day and a nice weekend.

 

This week we have karate, music, swimming and taking care of Grandma’s house, Halloween, All Saints Day party at school, and a block party after trick or treating.  We’re also planning to start teaching Gman to say the Rosary.  We’re starting with a decade and moving up to the full Rosary by Christmas.  A full but wonderful week to which to look forward.  Hopefully I’ll stay in a better mood!

 

The weekend update

We had a good weekend.  Friday school was cancelled due to ill health among the students and staff [and was cancelled again on Monday] so I went to work at 5 AM so that I could be home by 2 PM and Dad could go to work at 2:15 PM.  That way Gman got to stay at home with Mom and Dad.  We did the same thing on Monday and each day Gman and Mom got to take a nap.  Nothing more cuddly than a boy all warm and sweet smelling waking up from a nap.  I got lots of snuggles and cuddles and some good couch snuggling time.  Saturday after swim lessons [Daddy stayed home and did laundry and cut the grass – what a wonderful man!] we met up with Uncle Ned and Cousin Lucy [who is only days older than Gman] at the local McDonalds.  Uncle Ned and mom got to sit and chat while Gman and Luce climbed and played on the indoor jungle gym thingy.  Tentative plans were made for going to the pumpkin patch next weekend.  And food was eaten by Gman.  He ate his nuggets with hardly any complaint and then drank almost all of his milk.  Friday night I “made” frozen cheese pizza for dinner and he ate 3 – count ‘em, 3, adult pieces of pizza for dinner [complaining afterward of a tummy ache, but some potty time, a little burping, and a hot bath and all was fine in the universe].  I think someone is going through a growth spurt.  It makes sense since his shirt sleeves, shirts might I add that I just bought in early August, are all getting too short.  After playing with Cousin Lucy we took a trip to the library.  Gman has his own library card, but we always use mine.  I had some books on hold so we picked those up.  And then we raided the kids section.   I think we must have gotten over 50 books.  I have a few that I love that I get for him, or ones that other parents have recommended that I think he’ll like, and then I let him pick a bunch for himself.  He loves that part as he feels like a very big kid picking out his own stories.  So between the 2 of us we managed to overfill 3 canvas bags – the kind the stores now sell for those who don’t want paper or plastic – and ended up ripping the handle off one, much to my embarrassment.  Several people offered to help me out to the car, but I was too self-conscious to take anyone up on it.  Instead I had Gman sit in the armchairs by the door with one of the bags [I was parked right across from the entrance] and took 2 bags out and then came back and got the broken handle bag and Gman.  By this time [after 2 PM] someone was pretty tired – that would be me, although I could tell Gman was losing energy quickly, so we came home and watched a DVD instead of taking a nap, Dick van Dyke in the classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, always a favorite – great sing along songs.  I tidied a bit, read an adult book a bit, and napped a bit – all while Gman sang along.  And then we crafted.  We took all of Gman’s papers and projects from preschool and punched holes in them [or glued them to a piece of construction paper where necessary and punched holes in that paper], made pages labeled A – E [that’s as far as he’s gotten in the alphabet] and put them all in a binder labeled Gman’s ABC book.  I think it’s cute, but already very full.  The rest of the night was spent eating dinner, taking a bath, saying prayers, and reading a book [I forget what but I think it was Stanley Mows the Lawn].

 

Sunday was more restful.  We got up for 8 AM Mass and afterward had doughnuts in the basement.  We met a nice family that has a teen-age son, Sean, who is autistic.  Sean and Gman ran and played for 45 minutes while we talked to Sean’s mom first and then when mom went off to collect for a Christmas present for our Pastor, we talked to Dad.  We also got to have a nice conversation with another family that we really like.  I want Gman to marry their youngest daughter who is only days older than him.  After that we went home and took a family nap.  I love snuggling up to my boys and settling down to sleep together.  I don’t know what it is about sleeping all together in our bed, but there’s something just so cozy about it.  Dad and I get under the covers and Gman sleeps on top between us [to keep him from falling out of bed].  This day I guess we were cold or something because we were crowding him [the boy who always drapes an arm or leg over both of us and sleeps sideways so that Dad and I each get 6 inches of the queen size bed while he hogs the center] and he flipped around so that his head was by the foot of the bed.  However we slept, Gman and I were out of it.  We slept 2 ½ hours!  Needless to say, it was a good thing that school got cancelled because he wasn’t going to go to sleep at bedtime.  After nap and some laundry, Dad went to work and Gman and I went to Grandma’s for dinner.  Gman ate his salad and pork chop, but not without a fight.  Only the threat of no Grandma cookies got him through.  My younger sister says watching the fight that takes place over meals between me and Gman is great birth control.  After dinner we went home and went through all of my clothes that have been squirreled away for years at the top of the closet [too high up for me to reach].  Gman put on my boots and thought he looked like a cowboy.  He also took all the give-aways off the hangers and made a nest in the hallway.  Once we were done with clothes we played baby and mama bird in the clothing nest.  Then we gathered it all up, brushed teeth, said prayers, and read a third Stanley book [we had read Stanley Goes Fishing for naptime and Stanley Goes for a Drive at bedtime – by the way, I don’t recommend the Stanley books.  I think they’re kind of weird.  We won’t be getting them again from the library and they are going back as soon as I can get my act together to make a return trip].

 

So now it’s Tuesday.  Monday was spent with Dad in the morning and Mom in the afternoon.  We napped [again] and then ate dinner and went grocery shopping.  Nothing much exciting.  Just want to keep tabs on what we do so that years from now I can look back and remember.

Crabby Butt

I hate it when I am really crabby and cranky at Gman.  He’s little and I know he can be overwhelmingly persistent and somewhat annoying, but I need to remember that these are the formative years.  The way I treat him now will impact him for years to come.  I grabbed his hands during night prayers last night and held them even when he tried to pull them away.  I don’t think I hurt him, I was only holding his hands, but still ….  I need you all to pray for me that I can be a better, more patient mother.  I need to become more like the Blessed Virgin.  I need to let go of this world and put myself more firmly in the arms of my Savior and ask Him to guide me and lead me on His path.  Please, God, help me to become more like the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Help me to raise my son the way that she raised Yours.  And even more, help me to guide him closer and closer to You so that he may walk the path You have ordained for him.  I ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You on High.  Amen

 

Anne

 

Happy Anniversary Baby

Today is Tom and my 10^th anniversary [of our 1^st date].  We went to dinner at Norton’s then out to Milo’s on the Hill.  And it was the night of our first kiss.  Who could have guessed that the next 10 years would bring:  the girls moving in, a new house, marriage, high school graduation x2, college graduation, rehab x2, college expulsion, home expulsion, baby conception and birth, baby conception and miscarriage, water pipe bursting, home remodeling x a billion, 4 cats down to no cats, fights and making up, romance, Nubby-Butt squirrels, every day wonderful, every day general, messy rooms, clean rooms, old furniture, new furniture, money troubles, money windfalls, taxes, parental death x3, preschool, talking, walking, sass, learning and growing, pumpkin patches, Christmas x10, family parties, family fights, nephews, nieces, great nephews and nieces, baptisms, making friends, losing friends, hunting and killing deer, eating deer, internet poltergeists, cable, dish TV, cable, antenna, meetings out of town, vacations, Catholicism, Traditional Tridentine Rite, Novus Ordo, Latin Mass, St. Andrew Missal, Marian Missal, Roman Missal 1962, promotions, raises, bicycles, birthdays, weight gain, weight loss, disease, medicine, apple picking, baking, gardening, lawn work, ……

 

And the list goes on.  All of it together.  Has it only been 10 years?  It feels like we just met yesterday and that we’ve known each other forever.  You are my best friend.  The person I want to talk to first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  I love you, honey.  Happy Anniversary.

Sun bugs

You know those motes of dust that float through the air?  Well, according to Gman, they are “Sun bugs”.  He was sitting on the potty and I pulled a bit of TP off [sure to set the lint a-flyin’] and he started swatting at the air.  I asked “What are you doing?” and he replied, “I’m trying to catch one of the sun bugs, Mommy!  Try to catch one!”  Too funny, but makes perfect sense.  If you didn’t know any better what would you think if you saw hundreds of little white things randomly flying through the air, but only in the sunlight?

 

Small Successes 7-29-09

 

1. I didn’t kill my milkweed!  I thought in my determination to get rid of the aphids on the milkweed that I had overdosed them with dishwashing liquid.  Many of them turned “black” [stems and leaves] and a bunch of the leaves fell off.  I thought they were goners for sure.  But much to my delight, the aphids are back, but so are the milkweed beetles and milkweed pods.  I am anxious to see if I get any monarch butterflies this year.  We had 4 last year and Gman still talks about his caterpillar “Little” who turned into a butterfly.

 

2. I talked with my contractor about money.  My house suffered some rather severe damage back in January when a water pipe burst on the 2^nd floor and rained in my house for about 3 hours.  We have been undergoing reconstruction and construction with the same contractor for the last 6 months.  It has been arduous for all of us [even the contractor I think] but we are approaching the end.  We are over budget, as these things usually are, and I had to have a talk with the contractor about money.  VERY UNCOMFORTABLE!  But I did it! And now we have a meeting scheduled for later this afternoon to discuss options for getting costs under control.

 

3. After staying up WAY past my bedtime last night [2 am] and getting awoken at 3:30 by a little man claiming to have had a “bad dream” – child lingo for I want to sleep with you and Daddy – I managed to get out of bed and to work by 7 AM.  Got to work, but I think I will be chastising myself severely for staying up too late.  Still, Success! I got to work.

Small Successes

 

1. I got up.  I actually got out of bed at 5:15 AM, showered, dressed, made coffee, left the house without making too much noise, and picked up my co-worker, making it to work by 6 AM.  For a night owl who hates the worm [the early bird gets the …], this feels like a major accomplishment.

 

2. I made it to the doctor’s office on time and had the HUGE cyst on my wrist drained.  I’ve had this thing since February and it’s been grossing my husband out almost as long, so I finally did something about it.

 

3. I have kept the plant that my co-workers sent me on my father’s death alive for 3 ½ years now.  Granted there has been a bit of watering intervention by said co-workers, but still, mostly the girl with the black thumb [when it comes to houseplants] has had one for 3 years now.

Things are better

Things are better between Gman and myself.  I have calmed down and gotten a bit more of a sense of humor.  Instead of reacting in anger or frustration I am trying to defuse the situation with humor and laughter.  It’s working wonders.  Gman is responding with big belly laughs to his momma’s silliness and his momma is not having daily heart attacks or moments wondering if she is cut out for motherhood.  When Gman gets out of hand as three year olds are wont to do, hitting and acting out physically, I simply remove myself from the situation.  Last night at dinner he was hitting me in the arm [not hard or anything, just trying to get a response] and I picked up my food and moved a chair away from him so that he couldn’t reach me.  I told him that I didn’t sit next to boys that hit me.  I didn’t give it any value, meaning I didn’t tell him he was bad or make it any kind of judgment, I simply, moved and responded matter-of-factly to why I had done so when asked.  It kept me from being mad and stressed out that “I have a kid who hits and Oh My Goodness, what will I do when he goes to school and hits another kid and what will people think of him and me as a parent that I haven’t fixed this so we’d better get all over this now so that it can be fixed.”  It also kept me from being hit.  And now when he reacts physically, I tell him that I don’t play with boys who hit.  I try not to say it all negatively and just make it a statement.  He seems much happier and we are much closer.  We are talking to each other and playing together and I am enjoying him and he seems to be much less defiant.  In addition, I am spending more time with him doing things he likes.  Instead of expecting him to do what I need to do, I get what I can done and then we go and do something for him.  I needed to leave the house for dinner the other day and instead of taking him to a restaurant and expecting him to behave for the hour and a half it would have taken to eat dinner, I got carry out and we went to the park and sat at a picnic table.  He ate his dinner without complaint and without much fuss because he couldn’t wait to get on the equipment.  And when dinner was over, we blew some bubbles [and I used that as a way to clean his hands].  We spent 3 hours having fun and then went home and he played some more with his dad outside while I did some stuff inside the house.  I cannot thank all the moms who gave me advice enough gratitude.  Just getting some of it off my chest made me feel better and some of the advice I got was invaluable.  Thanks, Moms!! You guys keep me sane.

Book Review

#54 [100 Cupboards] by N. D. Wilson

 

As a reader, I really liked this book, as a parent, I have mixed feelings.  From the parental perspective, why is always necessary for kids to be brave and strong and intelligent without parents?  Look at Disney stories, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (had to leave her parents), Snow White (where was her father in all that?), The Little Mermaid (okay, there was a dad, but where was Mom?) and look at the popular works of fiction for young adults: The [Harry Potter] series, [The Mysterious Benedict Society] series (Sticky had parents but ran away from them in the first book), [My Side of the Mountain] (his parents exist but he leaves them behind).  And now [100 Cupboards].  I know that parents are supposed to protect kids and keep them from harm, but what about a book where the parents help the kid have an adventure?  It would be nice to have more books like the [Percy Jackson] series where the mother (who granted, isn't in the books that much and father is pretty much absent) helps her son do the things that he must.  It would be nice if the parents weren't welcome mats, but someone the kid could count on to help with trouble, a venerable guide, a font of wisdom, not someone to be defied and proven wrong, but someone that recognized the potential of the kid and helped him achieve.  It would be nice if the kid succeeded with the help of the parents instead of in spite of the parents (or lack thereof).

 

However, as a story I liked it.  Henry moves to live with his aunt and uncle and 3 female cousins in Henry, KS.  It's a good adventure, a little dark in some parts, but otherwise well written and easy to follow.  The development of Henry's character was interesting, seeing how he was over protected by his parents and now experiencing freedom and a chance to be a kid.  In connection with my above rant, I thought the way Henry's parents treated him was interesting.  They didn't treat him like a kid, more like a Ming vase which they tried to protect but didn't relate to.  Which becomes an interesting story arc that I liked.  I'm going to save this book for my son for when he's in about 2nd grade.

I messed up

Last night Gman was taking a bath and I had my feet in the tub with him.  As I was getting them out to get a towel to get him out, he started to try and pinch me with a pair of plastic pliers that he plays with in the tub.  I said “Now why would you want to do that?” and his response broke my heart.  He said, “Because I am an evil, evil boy.”  Seriously, even just thinking about it makes me want to cry.  I immediately stopped what I was doing and got up as close to him as I could and asked him if anyone had told him that.  He wouldn’t make eye contact, but I persisted and he ended up saying he was just joking.  I don’t buy it.  I think my bad attitude has affected him.  I think I yell WAY too much and tell him that he’s being a bad boy or mean and I think he has internalized it.  I think I am a horrible mother.  No wonder God has answered my prayers for another child with a resounding NO.  I’m screwing up the one I have so bad that it would be injustice to send me a second one.  The other day he said he was a “mean boy” and I corrected him, but obviously I’m doing it wrong and making him think there is something wrong or bad with him.  He’s only 3 [going on 4], he shouldn’t think he’s bad.  He is a boy and he is a 3 year old boy.  He’s mischievous and a bit rough [okay, a lot rough].  He doesn’t understand why it isn’t funny to hurt people.  This morning while we were saying our prayers I made sure to thank God for my wonderful son and say how blessed I was to have him and how wonderful I think he is and how good.  How can I teach him to be kind?  How can I teach him to be the wonderful little boy I know he can be without making him feel bad about himself.  Oh God, please help me to be the mother you want me to be, help me to lead my son to love Your Son and to be the man you want him to be.  I am feeling so lost and horrible and helpless.  Please God, help me.

Fried tomatoes

I had fried tomatoes at a restaurant the other day and they were delicious.  I tried to make them for dinner Tuesday night, but something wasn’t quite right.  I used milk as the liquid to adhere the breading, which I think was the first problem.  I used too much basil [fresh from my garden – I got a little overzealous in my excitement to use home grown stuff].  The breading wasn’t spicy enough.  Too much balsamic vinegar.

 

My recipe was

 

2 large, not over-ripe red tomatoes, sliced evenly

Milk

Bread crumbs

¾ lb Bacon, fried

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Mozzarella ball, thinly sliced

S and P to taste

 

Cook the bacon, drain on paper towels and reserve the drippings in the skillet.  Dip tomato slices into the milk then into the bread crumbs.  Pat to make sure crumbs adhere.  Fry tomatoes in the bacon grease.  Remove to a plate.  Snip fresh basil over tomatoes.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.  Top with Mozzarella slice and bacon.  S and P to taste.

 

Next time I think I am going to use egg or an egg/milk mix for the liquid and cracker crumbs ground in the food processer with a little Italian seasoning and some cayenne pepper.  I’ll also be a little more judicious in my use of the balsamic vinegar and basil.  Too much of a good thing, I guess.  I’ll also take out most of the bacon grease and only use what I need to brown the tomatoes.  I think they got soggy from too much grease.

 

Tuesday

Got a bit of a late start today.  Needed to be at work by 7 and didn’t leave until then.  Had to skip lunch in order to get out on time so that I could pick up Gman before 4 when is when the babysitter needed to leave.  Usually he stays until later, 5 or so, which made it nice to have more time with him today.  My friend had a daughter who is almost 14 and she came over to “play” – she thinks of it as babysitting, but since I’m there I think of it more as distracting or playing.  Gman definitely thinks he’s having a play date – so I managed to get the floors swept and mopped [wood with Murphy’s Oil Soap and tile with just rags and water], the laundry in the dryer and then folded, dinner made [hot dog and oranges for the boy, nuggets for the babysitter along with part of my dinner, more later], the kitchen cleaned, the dishwasher started, meat thawed for dinner Thursday [it needs to marinate].  Gman and the young lady played in his room, read books, played for a bit outside with the sprinkler, watched a bit of RESCUE RANGERS, and let me get it all done.  Although, when I was cleaning the kitchen floor on my hands and knees, Gman did come and complain that he didn’t want to play with S anymore because she didn’t’ play right [she was trying to teach him how to play a memory game and he just likes to throw the cards at this point].  He then climbed on my back and tried to ride me like a horse.  S came to my rescue and just chased him around the house.  He so needs a sibling.  I’m sure that S, oldest of 6, is used to teaching her siblings how to play games, and I know that they look up to her and try to mimic her.  Unfortunately, my little tyrant is used to having his own way.  He spent most of the time dictating what to play and when things weren’t exactly to his satisfaction, he left.  I am so worried about this.  How is he going to survive preschool let alone make any friends.  No one is going to want to play with such a bossy little tyrant.  And as he’s the oldest at the regular babysitter’s house, he’s used to being in charge.  Does anyone know how I can fix this?  Help.

50 Book Challenge books

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

highlight | work info

The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle

highlight | work info

Evil Without a Face by Jordan Dane

highlight | work info

Atticus: Novel, A by Ron Hansen

highlight | work info

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

highlight | work info

The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman

highlight | work info

A Silver Lining = If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

highlight | work info

Fish Out of Water (Fred the Mermaid, Book 3) by MaryJanice Davidson

highlight | work info

Persuasion by Jane Austen

highlight | work info

Royally Jacked by Niki Burnham

highlight | work info

The Royal Pain (Alaskan Royal Family, Book 2) by MaryJanice Davidson

highlight | work info

Enchanted, Inc. (Katie Chandler, Book 1) by Shanna Swendson

highlight | work info

highlight | work info

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

highlight | work info

highlight | work info

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

highlight | work info

No One Left To Tell by Jordan Dane

highlight | work info

Rowan of Rin (Rowan of Rin #1) by Emily Rodda

highlight | work info

Beige by Cecil Castellucci

highlight | work info

highlight | work info

An Assembly Such as This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman… by Pamela Aidan

highlight | work info

Austenland: A Novel by Shannon Hale

highlight | work info

Who Killed My Daughter? by Lois Duncan

highlight | work info

highlight | work info

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

highlight | work info

Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci

highlight | work info

Savvy by Ingrid Law

highlight | work info

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

highlight | work info

The Rivers Run Dry by Sibella Giorello

highlight | work info

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris

highlight | work info

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford

highlight | work info

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

highlight | work info

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (Mysterious… by Trenton Lee Stewart

highlight | work info

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

highlight | work info

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

highlight | work info

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

highlight | work info

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

highlight | work info

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

highlight | work info

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

highlight | work info

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

highlight | work info

Percy Jackson & the Titans Curse

highlight | work info

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

highlight | work info

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

highlight | work info

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

highlight | work info

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

highlight | work info

Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton

highlight | work info

These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan

highlight | work info

Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman (Fitzwilliam… by Pamela Aidan

highlight | work info

12 Again by Sue Corbett

highlight | work info

Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson

highlight | work info

33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp

highlight | work info

Undead and Unworthy by MaryJanice Davidson

 

My list of books for the 50 book challenge over at Librarything.  More than 50, but some were very short.  It’s only the middle of June, so hopefully I can make it to 100, 75 at the very least!highlight | work info

highlight | work info

 

Book Review

#14 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Wow, what a great book. I can't wait for the sequels. The part that I liked best was how pragmatic Katniss, the heroine, was. There were so many ways that the author could have made her weaker or soft, but that wouldn't have been in keeping with her character of the life she was being forced to live. Not an uplifting book, but action packed and almost impossible to put down.

 

 

book reviews

#44 Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
#45 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
#46 Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

#44 was an interesting book. The basic premise is that when you die, you take a ship to a place called Elsewhere where you proceed to age backward until you are a week old and then you're sent down the river (which is in the middle of the Ocean) back to Earth as a baby and you start over. A very interesting concept of the afterlife, even if I totally disagree with it. Again, no judgement, but you are met in the afterlife by your closest relative where you live. There are Observation Decks where the deceased can look down on their living loved ones. There is a place called the Well (forbidden) where the deceased can attempt to contact the living. It was an okay book, however, the character development really needed to be fleshed out more. Still, I did enjoy it.

#45 was a typical "orphan girl" book. The heroine is mad at the world, steals, lies, mistreats everyone especially the kindly foster mother and brother who take her in all because of her need for her "real" mother. The story was okay, but it could have been more developed. I don't understand why authors write down to kids. The Harry Potter phenomenon has shown that a more complex plot and highly developed characters really appeal to kids. Granted this book was written in 1978, but it was like a speed boat, skimming along the surface, when it could have been a submarine, exploring the depths of the human experience. In addition, I didn't get closure at the end. I don't know what happened and I always like to know the direction the author intended us to go - did she go back to the foster family or did she end up with her "real" family.

#46 was cute, but really shallow. The heroine's parents are lost at sea and she alone thinks they are still alive. The cast of characters was interesting and well developed, the plot however, was shallow and could have been more. The one thing that REALLY made me mad was the presentation of the heroine's parents. The book starts out with a storm at sea and her dad is out fishing (he's a commercial fisherman) and his ship hasn't come in so her mother gets in their little skiff and goes out in the middle of a storm to find him. LEAVING HER DAUGHTER ALONE!!! That makes me furious. And all throughout the book this is portrayed as some great love, that the mother is willing to die to save her husband. What about the kid? What about the person who is completely dependent on her parents? The child has no real rights and no one to take case of her and her mother leaves her with a babysitter to go find the person who is an adult. I cannot express how awful this is. I love my husband, my best friend, but we both agree that our son comes first. He needs us. And while the idea of someone being your complete other half is wonderful, I cannot even begin to think of what could possibly occur so that I would abandon my child to go and find my husband. My husband can look out for himself, my son cannot. This was my big complaint (among many) about M. Night Shamalan's latest movie - whose name I cannot remember. And now my son is in need of my attention so I must go.

books

Recently read

 

The Lace Reader – Brunonia Barry -  Loved it

If I Stay – tear jerker

Nothing to Lose – Lee Child – good Reacher story.  Don’t know why I like these, but I do.

 

 

Working on…

The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

The Children of Men – P. D. James

Apparently we have a stork...

Well, after breakfast the other day, little G-man told me that, Lo and behold…. he had a baby in his stomach and in the very next breath, POP it was out crawling around on the floor [oh that it were so easy!].  I was highly amused for the obvious reasons and asked what the baby’s name was.  To which he very calmly replied, “Cornic”.  Just like it sounds, COR-NIC.  Where does he come up with these names?  And then, all my prayers were answered, because despite biological evidence to the contrary, G-man informed that I had a baby in my stomach as well, and POP, now it was crawling on the floor.  When I inquired about the name of this baby, I was told his name was PeePee.  Okay, yes, G-man has recently potty-trained himself [LOVING IT] but we NEVER refer to it as PeePee.  We try and keep it basic and scientific [and I won’t go into details, thank you very much].  So I tried, subtly, to change it to PeeWee.  No go.  It was PeePee all the way.  And then Cornic and PeePee rode with us to the babysitter’s house, although, unlike other imaginary creatures, they were babies and couldn’t talk.  They had to respond in high pitched UmHm and Uh-nuhs, but weren’t required to hold conversations.  G-man did all the talking for all of them.  However, by the time we’d reached the babysitters they were grown, talking and sprouting teeth.  And by the time I saw him again that evening, G-man informed me that they were now older than him and were, in fact, his big brothers.  It almost does seem as if they grow up that fast.

On my TBR pile

On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan

The Child in Time – Ian McEwan

Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood [group read]

The Forsyte Saga – John Galsworthy [group read]

The Lace Reader – Brunonia Barry [on request at the library, will read when it comes in in July]

Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh [and then I’ll watch the movie]

The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery [again, in July]

The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart

Stolen – Vivian Vande Velde

Secret Keeper – Mitali Perkins [another July read]

The Rivers Run Dry – Sibella Giorello

The Story About Ping – Marjorie Flack [for G J]

UGH

Bad day today.  Bad night last night.  I hate nagging G. and yelling and just in general not being Jane’s mother.  It depressed me to no end yesterday and today.  I’m tired.  Of everything [please read that correctly and see that it says everyTHING and not everyONE].  I need my house back.  I need my son to behave properly.  I need someone to teach me how to be a good mother because I am failing in that one severely.  I need so many things and I don’t see myself getting any of them in the near future.  BLAH.  I just feel BLAH.  I think a Rosary said for the poor souls in purgatory will help me remember that things in my life are very VERY small crosses to bear.  I’ll have to make some sacrifices to remind myself that nothing in my life is bad enough to feel this way and I should remember that there are many [MANY MANY MANY] homeless, hungry, and suffering people and the minor inconveniences I am asked to tolerate are insignificant.  There.  That actually helped me to put it in perspective.

 

“Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone that fled to Thy protection, implored Thy help, or sought Thy intercession was left unaided.  Inspired by this confidence I fly unto Thee of Virgin of Virgins, my mother.  To Thee I come, before Thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.  O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but hear and answer me.  Amen.”

 

Current Read Alouds

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book

If I Ran the Zoo

The Lorax

Oh, the Places You’ll Go

Daisy-Head Mayzie

Horton Hears a Who

And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street

Happy Birthday to You

The Sneetches

Yertle the Turtle

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

Never Tease a Weasel – I can’t remember the author’s name, but a fun book

Big Book of Fairy Tales – excellent stories retold with wonderful drawings

Little Golden Books

Animal Counting Book

Doctor Dan the Bandage Man

Nurse Nancy

The Color Kittens

The Pokey Little Puppy

The Shy Kitten

Cinderella

Three Little Pigs

The Three Bears

Tawny Scrawny Lion [one of my personal favorites]

The Laughing Dragon – originally mine from childhood, destroyed in the flood and repurchased

Andrew Henry’s Meadow – my all time favorite

A Bargain for Frances

Tiki tiki Tembo – another childhood favorite

Duck Soup [Gman loves Bebe]

Harry the Dirty Dog

Harry and the Lady Next Door

No Roses for Harry

Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys [the first Curious George book – I didn’t know this even existed]

Sergio Makes a Splash

I’m looking for new books, something a little more complex with fewer pictures. I think I have to move up a reading level. We went to the library last night and I got a book for G ….. something about a music box mystery. I think we’ll try that one tonight.